Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 5.djvu/524

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NOTES AND QUERIES. [11 s. v. JUNE i, 1912.

married 13 April, 1796, Eliz. Cath. Markham second daughter of the Archbishop of York (Gent. Mag., 350, and pedigree of Markharr in Burke's ' Landed Gentry r ). Col. Jona than Barnett was buried in his plantation March, 1744. aged 67 (L. Archer's ' M.I. in the B. West Indies,' 321). Y. L. OLIVER.

ALEXANDER GARDEN (11 S. v. 389). The wife of Alexander Garden, M.D., F.R.S. was Elizabeth Peronrieau of Charleston S.C., a lady of French Huguenot ancestry. She died in England at Cheltenham in March, 1805, in the 67th year of her age. E. HAVILAND HILLMAN, F.S.G.

'THE COMMONWEALTH MERCURY,' 1658: TEA (11 S. v. 306). I regret to inform MR. CHAMBERS that this document is a clumsy modern forgery. It is not quoted by Thomas Carlyle in his ' Cromwell,' so that it was printed after the year 1852. There are two numbers of it in the British Museum I think, probably, the only two ever printed. The first is dated Thursdays, 2-9 Sept., 1658, and the second Thursdays, 18-25 Nov., 1658. Both are unnumbered. The title at once stamps the two as fictitious : 1. Because " Commonwealth " was not in favour. 2. Because " Mercury " as a term for a periodical was nearly unknown. " Mercury " was a term applied to the women hawkers of newsbooks. " Mercurius " was invariably applied to periodicals. 3. Becaiise a short title or " catchword " was not at the time in use. The first short titles were those of The Intelligencer and The Newes, first published in 1663. 4. Because periodicals appeared twice a week and were given two titles, up to the date of The Oxford Gazette (Nov., 1665). The sequence of bi-weeklies runs as follows : Mercurius Politicus, &c., and The Publick Intelligencer, &c., from 1655 to 1660; Mercurius Publicus, &c., and The Parliamentary (afterwards The Kingdoms] Intelligencer, &c., 1660 to 1663 ; and The Newes and The Intelligencer, 1663 to 1666, each being published on Mondays and Thursdays respectively.

Finally, Thomas Newcombe published Cromwell's official periodicals Mercurius Politicus arid The Publick Intelligencer and is assigned as the publisher of the forgery, though he certainly would not have pub- lished a periodical in opposition to himself n.nd on the same days. Moreover, Cromwell crushed all licensed periodicals out of exist- ence in September, 1655. Again, part of the title of the forgery is printed in Gothic

type, and the whole front page surrounded by a black border. Neither of these things was ever done in the case of periodicals. Roman type was always used for a title (is still in the case of the Gazette), and only sermons are occasionally to be found with a black border.

As to the contents of the forgeries, such parts as are true are taken from Mercurius Politicus and The Publick Intelligencer. This is also the case with the advertise- ments. The advertisement of tea (the first known) appeared in Mercurius Politicus, No. 435, for Thursdays, 23-30 Sept., 1658. The forgery has taken the liberty of ante- dating the advertisement by three weeks.

. A passage was cited by Dean Stanley, in his ' Memorials of Westminster Abbey,' from the second of the two forgeries, as follows (in describing the funeral of Cromwell's image) :

" This is the last ceremony of honour, and less could not be performed to the memory of him, to whom posterity will pay (when envy is laid asleep by time) more honour than we are able to express."

The writer of this false passage has exposed himself by writing " than " instead of then, as was the rule at the time.

J. B. WILLIAMS.

MR. L. H. CHAMBERS mentions 27 June, 1615, as the date of the first reference to tea by a native of Britain. However scarce the article may have been at the period he indicates, there is evidence that it was not unknown here some thirty years earlier. Among the records calendared by the Hist. MSS. Commission, Marquis of Salisbury MSS., part hi. p. 271, is a letter dated 12 Aug., 1587, from Richard Douglas to his uncle, " The Richt Honorabill M r Archibald Douglas, persone of Clascoue [Glasgow], oresentlie att London." It states :

"I send here to Mr. John Nisbett [domestic chaplain, or servitor, to the Scottish ambassador] a packet of theas to their friends at London, which

[ pray your lordship see delivered to him, and that

le deliver it, as it is addressed/'

The origin and purport of this communica- tion may be better understood by reference o another letter between the same parties p. 374), " Edinburgh, 22 Nov., 1588," vherein the writer explains : " this othe [sic\ racket to M r John Nesbitt contains but etters from merchants here to merchants n London." It is evident, therefore, that ea was imported into Scotland as early as he year 1587. J. N. DOWLING.

Birmingham.